DEUTSCHE BANK AG

German banking house founded in 1870 in Berlin and headquartered since 1957 in Frankfurt am Main. The largest bank in the country, it operates more than 1,200 branches in Germany. It also has a number of foreign offices and has acquired controlling interests in several foreign banks in Europe, North and South America, and Australia. The first bank was licensed by King William I of Prussia on March 10, 1870, and began operation in Berlin on April 9. Branches were opened in Bremen in 1871, in Hamburg, Shanghai, and Yokohama in 1872, and in London in 1873. By the end of the century it had absorbed a number of other German banks and multiplied its capital about tenfold, under its managing director Georg von Siemens. Expansion continued in the 20th century, and more mergers were capped in 1929 by the amalgamation of Deutsche Bank with its older rival, DiscontoGesellschaft. After experiencing difficulties at the onset of the Great Depression, the company prospered hugely under the Nazi regime. With the collapse of the Third Reich, Deutsche Bank's offices in Berlin and eastern Germany were closed by the Russians or were expropriated; branches in western Germany were decartelized, coalescing in 194748 as 10 independent banks. As the Cold War progressed and as the economic growth and cooperation of what by then was West Germany became more eagerly sought, however, NATO opposition to West German economic consolidation lessened. By 1952 the 10 banks had been reduced to 3; and in 1957 the 3 successor institutions were reunited to form a single Deutsche Bank AG.